A NEW initiative to increase business sponsorship of sport in Wales has been launched.

The Welsh Sporting Association (WSA) is looking to raise the bar in the commercial arena for 14 sport governing bodies in Wales.

The association has been established as part of a UK-wide government drive to reduce the reliance that many sporting bodies have on public-sector funding, be it through Lottery funds or grants.

Most sporting governing bodies in Wales, as in the UK as whole, only generate 10% of their annual funding requirements from the private sector.

The Government has indicated than any new private sector backing secured will in be in addition to current public sector funding levels.

However, over the longer term it is likely that government support for sporting bodies will be reduced as they move towards more commercial footing.

Kieran Harris, the commercial director of the WSA, said the aim this year was to identify new incomes and cost savings of £7,500 for each of the 14 sporting bodies included in the first commercialisation programme, which will run for two years.

The bodies include those for badminton, canoeing, squash, athletics, cricket, hockey and disabled sports.

Mr Harris said, "The £7,500 could be achieved through new income or reducing costs.

"One of the things we will be looking at is creating a more joined up approach to procurement, where say savings can be generated by sourcing all the bodies' kit requirements from one supplier."

The WSA is also looking to drive revenue opportunities from its own commercial initiatives, including plans for a Welsh retail and leisure-themed consumer discount book.

"We are in negotiations to produce a book which could realise thousands of pounds worth of savings for users through discounts at shops and leisure facilities in Wales.

"The book could be bought by, say, an employer for employees instead of Christmas vouchers. The money raised through book sales would then be ploughed back into sporting bodies."

Mr Harris, who is based at Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff, said the association was in effect a marketing and commercial resource which the 14 bodies could drawn on.

"Many of them only have a chief executive and a support staff of a few people. They don't have the resources to appoint commercial and marketing people, which is something we can provide," said Mr Harris

The association is currently developing new databases for each of the sporting bodies - to give potential sponsorships a precise socio-economic and demographic profile of their members.

"Businesses in Wales which get involve in sport sponsorship often don't get value for their money," said Mr Harris.

"The days of a business sponsoring a sporting event for £2,000 and getting tickets in return are gone.

"Sponsorship has to ultimately help improve sales and the bottom line of a business. Ensuring they optimise the benefits of sponsorship has to be a two-way process. Our role will be to help business easily identify what they can get out of it, whether it be access to a useful membership database for a particular sporting body, or opportunities for them to provide their services or products to a number of sporting organisations."

Mr Harris said the WSA's aim was to generate savings and new private sector backing for the 14 to the tune of £325,000 over the next two years - which would then be increased to £325,000 annually thereafter.

The WSA will then look to roll out a commercialisation programme to the other 50 sporting governing bodies in Wales.

Football and rugby are not included in the initiative as their relevant governing bodies have the necessary expertise to generate their own commercial backing.

The association was established as an independent body from Sports Council for Wales last summer.